Dion Waiters was a guard for the Syracuse Orange basketball team for two seasons.

Waiters was part of the regular rotation his freshman season. He was an explosive offensive player with a nice shooting touch and an aggressive move to the basket. He struggled on defense, which limited some of his playing time, but he showed several moments of exciting offense throughout the season. He got into a highly publicized shouting match with coach Jim Boeheim mid-season. He would be benched for a game, and see reduced playing time for a few game, but eventually worked his way back into his playing time. In the season ending loss to Marquette in the NCAA tournament, Waiters was the lone bright spot with 18 points.

Waiters was far more team oriented his sophomore season, and accepted his role as the sixth man on the team. Waiters would not start a game all season, but he would play about the same amount of time as Brandon Triche and Scoop Jardine, and more importantly, Waiters was always on the court at the end of the game. He developed into Syracuse's best offensive weapon, with an nice combination of outside shooting and strong penetration to the basket.

Waiters defense improved dramatically too as he remained focused on it. He would lead the team in steals, and was an integral part of Syracuse's highly efficient fast break offense. He would be second on the team in scoring and had a career high 28 points in the Orange loss to Cincinnati in the Big East Tournament. Waiters played very well in the post season that season, but would be hampered with foul trouble in the NCAA Tournament against Ohio State, eventually fouling out, the only time in his career.

Waiters was the fourth overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft, selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers, this despite the fact he never started a game at Syracuse.

NBA Career Statistics

Season

Pos

G

Min

FG

FGA

%

FT

FTA

%

3FGA

3FGM

%

Asst

Reb

Fls

DQ

TO

ST

BS

Pts

PPG

APG

RPG

2012-2013

G

61

1,756

336

815

41.2%

159

213

74.6%

63

203

31.0%

183

149

113

121

59

16

894

14.7

3.0

2.4

2013-2014

G

70

2,072

430

993

43.3%

161

235

68.5%

92

250

36.8%

209

195

153

154

63

17

1,113

15.9

3.0

2.8

2014-2015

G

80

2,208

375

946

39.6%

117

172

68.0%

73

246

29.7%

163

192

155

113

90

21

940

11.8

2.0

2.4

2015-2016

G

78

2,152

282

706

39.9%

112

157

71.3%

86

241

35.7%

154

202

143

120

81

15

762

9.8

2.0

2.6

2016-2017

G

46

1,384

281

664

42.3%

82

127

64.6%

85

216

39.4%

200

154

95

103

41

20

729

15.8

4.3

3.3

Total

G

335

9,572

1,704

4,124

41.3%

631

904

69.8%

399

1,155

34.5%

909

892

659

-

611

334

89

4,438

13.2

2.7

2.7

Waiters would have a solid rookie year for Cleveland, starting most the games, and averaging 14.7 ppg. He would make the NBA All Rookie Team.

Waiters would be traded to Oklahoma City in January 2015 in a three team deal involving the Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks. He would join the Miami Heat as a free agent in 2016. He struggled with injuries his first year with the Heat. He did put in an impressive performance for those games he was able to play.

Waiters was often referred to as the cousin of Scoop Jardine. The reality was they were not related, but that they grew up together and their grandmothers were stepsisters.